Zbigniew Brzezinski
on Afghanistan and the American strategy for Eurasia and the world
Plans For World War III Long In The Making
You many not believe many of the claims made in this video. However, look at what's
happening in Detroit, MI right now. Government assistance has run out, all industry
has left and there are not jobs. Most of the area has engaged in trade and barter
along with the growing of their own food. Also, towards the end of the video claims
are made that Obama will not win because they will throw him to the side and put
a Fascist in office. Well, a fascist is somebody who says "Yes We Can" to everybody,
while never truly defining who "We" actually is. Is that not Obama?
Russia and China are the only nations left that can possible challenge the power
of the Unites States of America. Knowing the history of American politics and foreign
policy, we should all be watching America's actions in the international community
very closely. A strong nation has an abundant flow of resources and control of resources
usually equals power throughout the entire world. So, where exactly do China and
Russia obtain there resources from and what type of US involvement is currently going
on in those places?
Global Action Network
Asia-
By Finian Cunningham
Global Research, November 17, 2011
Like a schoolyard bully, President Barack Obama is flexing American military muscle
as he currently sweeps through the Asia-
Testy relations with China is nothing new for Washington given recent months of US haranguing over trade and finance, but what Obama’s bombast signals is a sinister ramping up of the militarist agenda towards Beijing.
As if bouncing underlings and lackeys into his gang, the American president has moved on from Honolulu with stopovers in Australia, Indonesia and elsewhere. Given the primary economic power of China in the hemisphere, it might be thought appropriate for Obama to make a cordial visit to Beijing to discuss partnerships and policies to revive the global economy. But no. The omission of China on this major US tour seems to be a deliberate snub to Beijing and a message to the region: that China is to be isolated and ringfenced. This is the stuff of warmongering writ large.
The blatant aggression is naturally smoothed over and made palatable by the Western mainstream media. Reporting on Obama’s unilateral belligerence at the APEC, the Washington Post bemoans: “Try as he might to focus Asian and Pacific leaders on forging new economic partnerships during a regional summit here, President Obama has spent much of his time in private meetings with his counterparts discussing another pressing concern: national security [that is, US military power].”
The Financial Times reports breathlessly: “Barack Obama will not set foot in China
during his swing through the Asia-
Note the assertion that it is China’s “military advances” that are prompting US concerns, not the more reasonable and realistic observation that Washington is the one beating the war drums.
The FT goes on to say: “The Pentagon is quietly working on a new strategy dubbed the AirSea Battle concept, which is designed to find ways to counter Chinese military plans to deny access to US forces in the seas surrounding China.”
In “seas surrounding China” it may be thought by some as entirely acceptable for Beijing to “deny access to US forces”. But not, it seems, for the scribes at the FT and other Western mainstream media, who transform US offence/Chinese defence into Chinese offence/US defence. One can only imagine how that same media would report it if China announced that it was intending to patrol nuclear warships off California.
As previously noted by Michel Chossudovsky at Global Research, the South China Sea’s
untapped reserves of oil and other minerals are a major driver in US maneouvring.
China stands to have natural territorial rights to these deposits and has much more
valid claim to the wealth than the US, whose counter-
But there is a bigger geopolitical agenda here, as Global Research has consistently
analysed. The increasing US militarism in Asia-
However, this is not a dynamic that should be viewed as somehow normal and acceptable. This is, as we have stated, an escalation of global aggression by powers that are “addicted to war” as a matter of policy.
Top of the US hit list is China. Washington’s criminal wars in Iraq and Libya have in particular been aimed at cutting China out of legitimate energy investments in the Middle and East and North Africa (and Africa generally). That in itself must be seen by Beijing as a flagrant assault on its overseas’ assets. Not content, it seems, with achieving that dispossession of vital Chinese energy interests, Washington is now pushing its insatiable appetite all the way into China’s domain. But such unprecedented aggression is made to appear by the US government and the dutiful mainstream media as a natural entitlement where refusal by the other party is perversely presented as “military plans to deny access”.
Obama’s visit to Australia this week is undoubtedly aimed at further twisting the threat to China. In Darwin, the US president is overseeing the opening of a base that will see for the first time US Marines being able to conduct war games on Australian soil. Thousands of kilometers from China, this development may at first seem inconsequential. But then we are told that the move is designed to station US military “out of the reach of Chinese ballistic missiles”. The insinuation is unmistakable and menacing: China is an imminent threat. Somehow, without issuing any such aggressive moves, Beijing is suddenly made to look as if it is prepared to launch ballistic missiles at US installations.
It is tempting to call this US-
Karl Marx once noted: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce”. To avert another “farce” in which the horrors of history are repeated, we need to once and for all challenge the root cause: capitalism.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.
To become a Member of Global Research
The CRG grants permission to cross-
www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.
For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com
© Copyright Finian Cunningham, Global Research, 2011
The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=27709
Media Lies Used to Provide a Pretext for Another "Humanitarian War":
Protest in Syria: Who Counts the Dead?
By Julie Lévesque
Global Research, November 25, 2011
According to numerous reports from the Western media, human rights organisation, as well as the UN, countless peaceful civilians have been killed by the Syrian forces since the beginning of the unrest in the country in mid March. But where do the numbers come from?
Many media reports on the alleged deadly repression by the Syrian government fail to mention the sources of their information, which are very often referred to solely as "human rights groups" or "activists":
"Rights groups said Sunday that troops cracking down on pro-
These protests are an unprecedented challenge to President Bashar al-
At least 75 people have been killed today in Syria during mass protests, local human rights activists told Amnesty International [...]
Thirty were killed in the southern town of Izzra’, 22 in Damascus, 18 in the Homs area and the rest in other towns and villages, activists said [...] (Scores killed in Syria as 'Great Friday' protests are attacked, Amnesty International, April 22, 2011.)
Although the necessity to remain "anonymous" where dissent is said to be life threatening
may under certain circumnstances be understandable, this stance inevitably raises
suspicions: The "'numbers" can be used to demonize the government, as part of covert
operations by any state or organisation looking for regime change in Damascus. It
is no secret that the overthrow of the Syrian regime has been a long-
The reliance of the mainstream media on information emanating from anonymous groups provides a biased understanding of the Syrian protests, which in turn supports the broader objective of destabilizing the Syrian regime.
When information from unknown sources pertaining to the death toll is published either by a mainstream media or a recognized human rights group, it is invariably picked up and considered as "factual evidence" by other news sources or think tanks, without further verification. Moreover, in the process the information is subject to further distortion. Here is an example of this phenomenon:
Rights group Amnesty International said on Friday that it has recorded the names of 171 people killed since the first protesters died in Daraa on March 18.
The group based its tally on information received from rights activists, lawyers and other sources and said the majority appeared to have been killed by live ammunition fired by the security forces. (Protesters killed in southern Syria, Al Jazeera, April 9, 2011.)
The above news article is based on the following statement by Amnesty International:
At least 171 people are believed to have been killed during three weeks of unrest in Syria, Amnesty International said today after at least eight more fatalities during protests.
The death toll from today's clashes could rise significantly, according to reports from human rights activists in the country.
Amnesty International has recorded the names, via information received from sources including human rights activists and lawyers, of 171 people killed. (Death toll rises amid fresh Syrian protests, Amnesty International, April 8, 2011.)
The original information from Amnesty international (AI) is that “171 people are believed to have been killed”, a statement showing that although “it has recorded the names of 171 people killed”, this information could not be confirmed. Al Jazeera fails to report this "uncertainty" and by doing so makes it a fact rather than an assumption, that 171 people were killed.
Here is another example of blatant distortion:
Despite a pledge to end its crackdown, Syrian security forces continued to suppress
anti-
This is an analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations, the famous and extremely powerful U.S. foreign policy think tank. It is based on the following article from Al Jazeera where the information related to the killing is markedly different:
"Dozens of people have reportedly been killed in the flashpoint city of Homs, as Syrian security forces bombarded residential areas with tanks.
The reported deaths occurred in the Bab Amro district of Homs on Thursday, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an activist group monitoring the country's uprising, said. (Syria “violence defies peace deal”," Al Jazeera, November 4, 2011.)
Al Jazeera’s wording “reportedly been killed” and “reported deaths” shows the deaths have not been confirmed. The Qatari media also mentions that these claims come from one source only, namely from an activist group called Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC). The article from the CFR changed Al Jazeera’s allegations into concrete facts.
When it comes to counting the dead, the LCC is very often cited in the mainstream media as a source for reports on killings committed by the Syrian authorities, as we can see in the examples below:
Another opposition group, the Local Coordination Committees, said it could not corroborate the Syrian Observatory’s account of the military casualties, though it also called Monday one of the uprising’s bloodier days, with at least 51 civilians killed. “We don’t have any confirmation of what they’re claiming,” said Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees. (Nada Bakri and Rick Gladstone, Syria Faces New Threats as Opposition Seeks Allies, The New York Times, November 15, 2011.)
According to the opposition network, the Local Coordination Committees, at least
five people were killed during the military offensives -
Secret police opened fire and shot teargas to disperse more than 10,000 protesters in Deir Ezzour, in Syria’s tribal east, an activist from the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union (SRCU) told Al Jazeera. Ten protesters were wounded and around 40 were arrested, he said.
The SRCU is the name given this week to one of Syria's grassroots opposition networks. The SRCU works alongside the Local Coordinating Committees (LCC), another grassroots opposition network. (Al Jazeera Live Blog – Syria, June 3, 2011.)
At least 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the unrest, by the United Nations’ count. An activist group, the Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, said on Tuesday that 551 people were killed during Ramadan alone. The group said 130 others were killed on July 31, the eve of Ramadan, in an attack on the city of Hama, which was also the scene of a ferocious crackdown in 1982.
On Tuesday, four people were killed in Hara and two others in Inkil, two towns in Dara’a Province, according to the Local Coordination Committees, another group of activists who document demonstrations. (Nada Bakri, Syrian Security Forces Fire on Worshipers as Ramadan Ends, The New York Times, August 30, 2011.)
The above article mentions a "UN count" as if it were an independent source of information. However, according to one of its reports, the UN also relies on the same sources of information, the LCC, and it mentions in a note that it is unable to confirm if the information given by the LCC is true:
"At the time of writing, the mission had received more than 1,900 names and details
of persons killed in the Syrian Arab Republic since mid-
26. This information is compiled by local coordinating committees active within the
Syrian Arab Republic in documenting the names and details of victims. The mission
is unable to verify independently this information." (United Nations, Report of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights
in the Syrian Arab Republic -
What are the Local Coordination Committees (LCC)?
According to the Christian Science Monitor, the LCC is part of the non-
"Syrian opposition leaders meeting Sunday in Turkey formally created the Syrian National
Council, bringing together most of the disparate groups seeking to unseat Syrian
President Bashar al-
The council includes the Local Coordination Committees, which has organized most of the protests across the country; the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood; and Kurdish groups; among others, the Associated Press reports. Almost half the members are from inside the country, according to the Washington Post, overcoming a key concern that the council would rely to (sic) heavily on exiles. (Ariel Zirulnick, Syrian oppositon groups formally unify, overcoming key hurdle, October 3, 2011.)
The LCC are somewhat "anonymous". They refused a telephone interview, but agreed to answer some questions by email. They stated that for security reasons they could not reveal how many members the LCC includes, but claim 13 members of the LCC are in the SNC. “We have enough people to run demonstrations on ground, for media and relief action.”
LCC Logo
The members allegedly come from different backgrounds and are from all age groups; some are active inside Syria, the others outside the country. The LCC says that their members, in and outside Syria, have been threatened, arrested and tortured by the Syrian authorities. When asked how they became a source of information for the foreign media, the LCC says it is because they provide credible facts.
And what is the ultimate goal of the LCC? “Our goal is to change the regime in Syria, and as the first step, to end the mandate of the current President, who is now politically and legally responsible for the crimes committed by his regime against the Syrian people and a safe transfer of power in the country.”
Basically, the LCC wants regime change in Syria and it seems to be the major source
of information for the western mainstream media and human rights organizations. This
opposition group claims to provide “credible facts”, however there is no way to verify
these facts. The so-
Although the LCC spokesperson refused to disclose the names of its members, some have appeared in the mainstream media. One of their members, or collaborator, is Rami Nakhle, a cyberactivist living in exile in Beirut, Lebanon.
“Today, after 98 days of protests, he is living in denial,” says Rami Nakhle, a Syrian
working in Beirut with the Local Coordination Committees, a clearinghouse for Syrian
opposition protests and activities “It has become clear to everybody that Bashar
al-
The activist has a privileged relationship with Al Jazeera, according to NPR:
When the Arabic channel Al-
It should be noted that Al Jazeera played a key role in promoting the regime change in Libya.
CyberDissidents.org, a website presented by the Bush Center as a “Voice of Freedom
Online”, offers a brief portrait of Nakhle, which is not unlike the other portraits
found in the mainstream press, which describe him solely as a cyber-
"Rami Nakhle is a 27 year cyber-
Despite these threats from the Syrian government, Nakhle continues to work in hiding,
continuing his campaign for freedom through Facebook, Twitter, and full-
Portrait of Rami Nakhle on CyberDissident.org
The U.S. government and NGOs doing CIA work, such as Freedom House, are major sponsors
of cyber-
"Political dissidents from China, Iran, Russia, Egypt, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba
will travel to Dallas to join with Fellows of the George W. Bush Institute, experts
from Freedom House, Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the U.S. Government
and other leaders in the field to discuss the successes and challenges of Internet-
The George W. Bush Institute today [March 30, 2010] announced it will co-
Rami Nakhle doesn’t hide his interests in American organisations. On his Facebook page, he lists the following as “interests”: National Democratic Institute (NDI), chaired by Madeleine Albright, Human Rights Watch and the U.S. Embassy Damascus.
Nakhle’s interest in these organisations clearly shows which side he’s on, just like
SCN member Radwan Ziadeh, former fellow of the National Endowment for Democracy,
another organization well-
In an interview with the Guardian, the cyberactivist claims to be harassed by the
Syrian secret police, on his Facebook wall. It might be true, but it would be a rather
unusual tactic for a secret police, which usually, as its name says, acts secretly.
Such harassment is more likely to be black propaganda -
The "Syrian uprising" seems to be a copy and paste of the "protest movement" in Libya,
which was conducive to a NATO invasion and regime change. The mainstream press has
once again one principal source of information – the opposition groups. The media
neglects military casualties and fails to report that armed gunmen, 17 000 according
to a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, are among the
protesters. A non-
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.
To become a Member of Global Research
The CRG grants permission to cross-
www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.
For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com
© Copyright Julie Lévesque, Global Research, 2011
The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=27785